A great director who grew up happily

Chapter 325: Lost a business deal and lost a sports car

As soon as Chen Jinnian and Wang Yidi entered the company, Liu Tingting, dressed in formal attire, came up to them and said anxiously, "Boss, you're finally here. They've been waiting in the reception room for two hours."

"They?" he asked doubtfully, "Isn't it just Wu Jing?"

"No, there's another group of people. They seem to be from the crew. They came with Teacher Wu."

Chen Jinnian glanced sideways at the reception room and saw through the glass wall that there were indeed many people sitting there. He turned to Liu Tingting and said, "I see. You don't have to worry about the reception room anymore. Take Yidi to rest first. I'll take care of the rest."

After giving his instructions, he walked straight over.

Given Wu Jing's relationship with him, it was quite normal for them to come without making an appointment in advance, but the others obviously came suddenly on a whim. He was very curious about who these people were.

He pushed the door open and was instantly hit by a strong smell of cigarettes. He frowned and shouted, "Wu Jing, who told you to smoke? Don't you know that smoking is prohibited in my company?"

Wu Jing awkwardly threw the cigarette in his hand into the mineral water bottle, and the others quickly followed suit, extinguishing the cigarettes in their hands.

Only then did Chen Jinnian realize that there was more than one heavy smoker in the reception room, but before he could see who was present, a girl rushed over.

"Brother~"

He didn't react for a moment and was hugged by the other party. After he saw the other party's face clearly, he said in surprise: "Maizi, why are you here? You have changed so much in more than a year."

"What are you talking about? It's been such a long time and you didn't come to see me."

Zhao Jinmai is now obviously much taller than when we first met. She has also cut her hair into neat shoulder-length short hair. Although her face is still full of collagen, she no longer looks childish.

"How could I have time? I took the college entrance examination last year, and also found time to shoot two movies and a TV series, and acted in a movie. How could I have time to play with you?" Chen Jinnian said shamelessly.

"You've filmed so many dramas, but you didn't even call me." Zhao Jinmai became even angrier, with an expression that looked impossible to appease.

"You are too young, there is really no suitable role for you. Please wait a moment, I will definitely invite you when I find a suitable one." Chen Jin quickly assured.

"Really? You're not lying to me again."

"What do you mean by 'again'? When have I ever lied to you?"

"You lied to me last time."

Hearing the two chatting, Guo Xun, who was sitting next to Wu Jing, had his eyes light up. He actually didn't know that Zhao Jinmai and Chen Jinnian were so familiar with each other. They came today to discuss the production of movie special effects.

But after seeing the two of them acting like brother and sister, he instantly realized that this was the male lead he had been so worried about recently. Thinking of this, he quickly turned his eyes to his partner Gong Geer and exchanged glances with him.

Wu Jing, who was standing next to him, stood up and opened the window to ventilate the reception room. "I told you guys to talk later. I've been waiting for you for quite some time. Let's finish the business first. If you have anything to say, we can talk about it over dinner later."

Zhao Jinmai lowered her head embarrassedly and walked to the chair next to her and sat down, while Chen Jinnian started to retort.

"Who can you blame for waiting so long? It's because you didn't make an appointment in advance. I just finished my final exam today. If you had come yesterday, you wouldn't have seen me until after get off work."

After venting his complaints, he turned to look at the crew members, "Who are you?"

"Hello, Teacher Chen. I'm Guo Xun, and he's my partner, Gong Ge'er. We're here specifically to ask for advice on special effects production."

Chen Jinnian tried hard to match the bearded middle-aged man in front of him with his impression of Guo Xun, but he did not hesitate and shook hands with the other party.

"Teacher Chen, I don't deserve it. You are my senior, so just call me by my name."

"Don't be polite. We are all in the same circle. Just focus on the key points." Wu Jing said frankly. He and Guo Xun didn't know each other before. They were introduced by a friend at a drinking party before the New Year. He happened to know that Chen Jinnian was also working hard in the special effects department recently, so he brought the other party to meet him.

"Let me talk about my business first. After New Year's Eve, you have to accompany me to South Africa to finish filming the overseas scenes."

"No problem." Chen Jinnian nodded. This was the contract he should fulfill. He had very few scenes abroad, and one or two weeks would be enough to finish filming.

"And one more thing, can you do the special effects shots in my movie?"

"Of course, as long as the money is in place, I can produce special effects for you at the Hollywood level." Chen Jinnian said confidently.

Hearing this, Wu Jing did not feel happy, but rather a little embarrassed, "What if the money is not in place?"

Chen Jinnian looked him up and down, clasped his hands together, and said decisively, "Goodbye."

He turned around and left without any hesitation, leaving everyone in the reception room stunned.

But Wu Jing knew his character too well. The moment he turned around and ran out, he reached out, grabbed his shoulders, pulled him back and pressed him into the chair.

"I didn't say I wouldn't pay."

"Then how much can you offer? Let me tell you, special effects lenses are priced accordingly. The quote is tied to labor costs and is basically fixed. Don't make unrealistic demands like you, an outsider."

Chen Jinnian actually didn't want to get involved in the special effects production of "Wolf Warrior 2". This movie has a lot of special effects shots, probably more than 1600, accounting for 1/3 of the total length of the film.

But Wu Jing had already outsourced the most important part of the shots, and a foreign special effects company had joined the crew during the early stages of filming, so the remaining special effects shots were all worthless scraps, which were trivial, paid little, and involved a lot of work.

Although Chen Jinnian is not a diligent boss, he is not someone who only cares about money. It is easy to wear out the team's enthusiasm if he asks them to do this kind of special effects every day.

"Before I pay you, I need to ask clearly. I just saw your team and they are too small. How can you keep the deadline?"

"It's a trade secret. I have a way to shorten the production cycle, and if there are not enough people, I will recruit more, so you don't have to worry about it." Chen Jinnian said.

He knew that his team was not yet mature. According to his estimate, it would take at least 400 people to produce a special effects blockbuster in a year with the help of supercomputers. The main reason was that special effects calculations were too time-consuming. Under the current circumstances, it could only rely on manpower.

"Okay, I'll give you 70% of the budget and you help me finish it." Wu Jing said.

"What, 70%? No deal if it's less than 90%. Go find another company." Chen Jinnian shook his head. Labor costs are cheap in China, but not in Beijing. A qualified special effects artist starts at 70 yuan a month. If it's % of the foreign quotation, he will even lose money after paying taxes.

"That 75%." Wu Jing smiled embarrassedly. He knew he was too harsh.

"You should find someone else." Chen Jinnian didn't want to talk business with him.

"Hey, don't go. We can negotiate again. Just name a price."

Chen Jinnian turned around and glared at the other person. "I'm giving up two points. You have to understand that the part I'm giving up is pure profit."

"Okay, 88% is 88%." For Wu Jing, 12% can save two or three million, which is not a wasted trip.

Just as Chen Jinnian was immersed in the emotion of losing a sports car, Guo Yun quietly asked, "I'm still short of a leading actor for my movie. Do you have any ideas?"